Many months ago, I was strongly interested to understand what a "Podcast" is really, and what are the advantages for people to use it.I start my researches and I'm ended up to what left me a little disappointed.
Indeed a Podcast is nothing else than a normal audio file in MP3 or WAV format, in which everybody can record what they want: music, words, etc.
Publishing this file into a website, it is listeneable by everybody.
Why am I disappointed?
Because it seems the "discovery of the warm water".
In other words, I was thinking a Podcast was something different from anything it was present on market till now.
I discovered that it is just a re-labeling of what is peresent om the market since decades! Making believe that now, everybody has the possibility to do it.
But even 10 years ago it was already !
Just a microphone (whatever mic on the market), a program (nothing special) wich saves in standard formats: MP3 or WAV or the more efficent: AAC.
So what's the difference between a generic AudioFile which contains your voice wich express your ideas and a Podcast? Nothing!
Let's see how a Podcast (audiofile) can be made now as well as 10 years ago:
Using free softwares as: Audacity it is possible to create any audio file.
Moreover in all the windows versions there is the famous "Sound Recorder" which is sufficient for most uses like the Podcast.
A normal microphone even the cheapest ones are sufficient (often the audio quality is due who use them, more due their economic value!) Thus, there is nothing new under the SunLight.
Just a new name which indicates very old features.
I thus lost the interest on Podcast as new technology or feature. But I use them like I already did in 1994 - 1996 on my first websites creating little "audio personal opinion" stuff tutorials, little audiobooks etc etc etc
The only one advantage is that nowaday, there are fantastic plug-ins for a website, which present you a reader rather than to download the file in order to listen to it.
But this feature (downloading the file) is also used today with the re-labeled audio files: Podcasts, because not always such beautiful plug-ins are workign properly in all browsers and/or platforms.
Now it's just a manner to propose you:
- microphones
- headsets
- softwares
- packs
- etc
Just marketing built on old technology :-)
